Barefootbutterfly Studio Blog

I just wanted to write a little something to keep all of you in my crazy loop :) Lots of you know that I have my hands on many projects but some may wonder why they see so much diversity in my posts on my facebook page & here on my blog.

"Boudoir, Maternity & newborn photography? I thought she was a nail tech?"... "Nails? I thought she was a makeup artist & body painter?"... "Upcycled Vintage? I thought she was a photographer?"

Let me explain... ;)

I have a story.. it's a bit long but hopefully it will clear up the confusion,lol

I have been a professional nail technician, make up artist & esthetician for around 26 years mainly focusing on nails, make up & body painting. This was a dream I had since I was in middle school.. to help people feel good about the way they looked ;) My friends & I would draw floor plans to beauty salons we would one day own. (you know who u are,lol) That dream came true for me & I thank everyone of you who has sat in my chair & trusted me to do my best for you! I love the looks on your faces when you are happy with your nails, makeup, body or belly paint or whatever I have done for you :) Its the best!I have also been a photographer for around the same amount of time starting as a child with a point & shoot then in high school photography class. Having taken photography in university along with fine arts like painting, drawing, sculpture, etc. back in 1989 I learned the technical yadayada. I had so much fun doing photo shoots back in the day, carefully developing all the film & images myself in the darkroom, lots of the time with my bestie cheering me on with poems of crazy people who liked to pose upside down & nude for the drawing & painting classes,lol (u know who u are to ;) This has been a great journey & I am soo happy to say that that the dream of being a photographer has come true as well, helping people see what I see & empowering women !!

In the last 20 yrs or so I have been blessed with 3 amazing children as well. With the oldest now being 20, they are pretty much to the point of being able to take care of themselves without me having to be there every second,lol. (those who know me well know the 3rd child is a mommy's girl & is still quite attached at the hip,lol) but I have been able to 'find myself' a bit and create some nice art with some pretty awesome people.I consider myself blessed to be able to follow my dreams, thanks mostly to my amazing soulmate Scott for being there by my side to & enabling me to do so <3 (he actually likes doing laundry! can you believe it! lol)

This brings me to another path of my journey... in amongst my dreams, for a very long time, I have always longed to be able to create art with antique, vintage type things. Having grown up in house full of antiques thanks to my dad who was always at an auction picking up the coolest old stuff & my artist mother who always had a great appreciation for it, I have always had an appreciation for good quality items that were made with love in days gone past.To add to that, one thing I really can't stand is seeing a good thing go in the garbage! Ask anyone who has been to the dump with me,lol... I will literally walk up to people who are getting ready to toss out perfectly good objects & ask them if i can have them,lol. Its a curse! But seriously, I think there should be some sort of way to save everything that is reusable, from the landfill, (but that is a whole nother can of worms,lol.)So, here I am, a collector of great "junque" as I & some others who are addicted to it, like to call it & believe me, it IS an addiction. I wouldn't call myself a hoarder (because my stuff is SO awesome) but my house is piling up,lol.

So what do I get when I follow my dreams? My newest artistic project... my creative space that we have miraculously found & transformed from an ugly bug filled 'barnish' type of building to a great place to hang out & display my painted & artsy & vintage things for folks to see!I knew the second I first saw the space that it had the bones to be GREAT :)

It's been fun, ripping out old insulation filled with birds nests lol!... we tore down the yucky stuff, then covered it in wood that we saved from the landfill (so awesome!!)Painted some of it white to bring an amazing shabby feel to the place... Scotty & my brother Jim used some of the reclaimed wood to create an amazing creaky floor that reminds me of wandering through the old homestead buildings at the Fort, in Fort Langley BC where we grew up. We built a new barn door to replace double doors that were rotting off. My kids have been a great help as well with my boys working hard to help me with my dream & my girl cleaning & doing everything she can to help to :)

Now I have a wonderful place to paint & create all sorts of fun & crazy things with all of my junque I have been collecting for sooo long!

So these are some of the reasons why you will see all sorts of images when I post here on my blog or facebook or instagram, or wherever it may be! Thank you for hanging in there if you just like posts of nails, or body paint, or if you like to check out my photography or if you are waiting to see what I make of all my cool vintage stuff... I appreciate every single person who follows me on this journey to create art!!Feel free to like stuff & comment to.. your feedback inspires me to create more! <3{Big hugs} ~ Carolyn ~ Barefootbutterfly